In a recent legal dispute, plaintiffs Lili Taleb and Knarik Taleb filed a complaint against Thurman Interim California, LLC. The case was filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on July 2019 under Case No. 19STCV21671. The plaintiffs accused Thurman of several grievances related to their apartment living conditions.
The Talebs initially moved into an apartment at Wyvernwood Gardens in 2015 and began experiencing unusually high electricity bills. Suspecting that someone was stealing their electricity, they sued the property management company, FPI Management, Inc., in July 2017. However, when an inspection revealed no theft but potential issues with stray current and degraded wiring, the Talebs sought to amend their complaint to include these new findings along with claims of uninhabitable living conditions due to mold and infestation.
The trial court denied the motion to amend the complaint, citing untimeliness and potential prejudice against Thurman. Consequently, summary judgment was granted in favor of Thurman as the Talebs failed to submit a timely separate statement disputing material facts. The plaintiffs appealed this decision, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion by denying them leave to amend their complaint and improperly granting summary judgment.
The appellate court upheld the trial court's decisions across multiple contentions made by the Talebs. The court found that allowing amendments would have been prejudicial to Thurman due to additional discovery requirements and delays in an already prolonged litigation process. Furthermore, it was noted that the plaintiffs had ample time since 2017 to raise these issues but failed to do so diligently.
The appellate court also reviewed sanctions imposed on the Talebs and their counsel for bad faith litigation conduct post-March 2021 after they knew their claim lacked merit but continued with it regardless. This included personal insults towards defense counsel and attempts to dismiss Thurman without prejudice just before a summary judgment hearing—a tactic deemed solely intended for unnecessary delay.
Ultimately, the appellate court affirmed all judgments and postjudgment orders issued by Judge Barbara Scheper of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Attorneys involved included Travis M. Poteat for plaintiff Lili Taleb and George A. Guthrie along with Kathryne E. Baldwin from Wilke Fleury for defendant Thurman Interim California, LLC.